Footage shared online this week shows Ukrainian forces successfully taking out Russian military vehicles, including tanks, in Kharkiv.
The footage shows the precise delivery of artillery by Ukraine’s 93rd Mechanized Brigade in Kharkiv. In the clip, a Russian T-80BV tank is struck from above by Ukrainian artillery. According to Ukraine Weapons Tracker, the tank was struck on the top of the engine, disabling the vehicle completely.
Slow-motion footage of the strike shows the front of the vehicle immediately erupting into flames before plumes of smoke billow out of the vehicle.
While Kharkiv is not a part of the Donbas region of Ukraine, which has bore the brunt of Russian aggression in recent months, the region has seen more fighting than central Ukraine. Kharkiv sits to the west of Luhansk Oblast, which is governed by pro-Kremlin separatists and currently occupied by Russian forces.
#Ukraine: Another Russian T-80BV was hit in the top of the engine by the Ukrainian 93rd Mechanized Brigade in #Kharkiv. pic.twitter.com/xmeAt7NMef
— ?? Ukraine Weapons Tracker (@UAWeapons) July 4, 2022
Russian troops successfully conquered all of Luhansk’s major urban populations in recent weeks, with the last Ukrainian-controlled city in the region, Lysychansk, falling to the Russians on Sunday.
RUS T-80BV – Ai upscaled 150% + dehalo + compression reverse + Ai injection 20 to 60 FPS + 200% Slow Mo pic.twitter.com/GrfqqptpSr
— Dariusz Zawadzki (@Military_oO) July 4, 2022
Russian Ammo Warehouse Destroyed Near Kharkiv
In June, a video from just outside of Kharkiv also showed Ukrainian forces destroying a Russian ammo warehouse.
In the footage, some Ukrainian rural homes are seen being destroyed in the same strikes.
The footage was shared by the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and included a statement describing how Ukrainian troops were targeting Russian ammunition stored in the region.
“In the Izyum direction, our military blew up warehouses with Russian artillery ammunition,” the statement reads.
Since then, Ukrainian forces have seen several victories in the region – although Russian forces continue to make efforts to advance through the region.
Sitting west of Luhansk Oblast, now fully controlled by the Russians, Kharkiv has seen intense combat in recent weeks and reports even revealed how Russian forces have relied heavily on the use of cluster munitions to push back Ukraine’s defenses.
International humanitarian group Amnesty International revealed in June how hundreds of civilians in Kharkiv were killed by “indiscriminate shelling” and “widely-banned cluster munitions” used by the Russians. BBC reporters also visited five impact sites in residential areas in Kharkiv, documenting “symmetrical spalling effects” that are often associated with these munitions.
CCTV footage collected by the British state-owned news outlet also reportedly showed the weapons being used in residential parts of Kharkiv, causing death and destruction in wider impact zones than most traditional munitions.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
